How to Get Supermodel Hair

While getting a body like Gisele’s or Heidi Klum’s may require logging some serious time at the gym, duplicating their sexy va-va-voom hairstyles is an absolute cinch. (You can even do it on your couch. Yes, really!) Here, top hair pros—and even a few of the VIP models themselves—spill their hairstyle secrets.

Want bedhead hair? Try sleeping.

Who doesn’t want Gisele’s perfectly sexy “I just got out of bed with Tom” unkempt waves? (Some of us might not mind the Tom part of the equation either, but let’s stick to hair for now.) Turns out the secret is rolling around in bed! “I tell her to wash her hair the night before an event instead of that morning,” says her stylist, Harry Josh. “This way, she sleeps on it and gets a good matted bedhead-y texture.” To prepare her hair for an event, Josh uses a giant iron—the biggest you can find—on her second-day hair to give it a bit of bend, along with dry shampoo (like Klorane’s version) to give it fullness, adding some John Frieda Thermal Frizz Ease Serum on the ends to create a little shine and separation between the waves.

Photo: Wireimage

Work some white-hot highlights.

The trick to Gisele’s signature beach-babe hair color is the widely spaced highlights that become brighter and blonder at the tips. “She’s got lots of different tones in her hair. The chunkiness of the highlights and the white ends are what create the sun-kissed feel,” says her stylist, Harry Josh, who hand-paints Gisele’s highlights himself. So next time you sit down for a dye job, take these directions to your colorist. Or, if you DIY your highlights, wipe the formula off each strand very slowly, starting from the top and taking an extra minute or two to reach the ends to bleach them out.

Photo: Wireimage

Get a multipurpose haircut.

Nearly all supermodels have this hairstyle secret in common: They never go for a trendy-of-the-moment haircut! Not only does a classic cut look timeless and sophisticated, it’s practical, too: Having a versatile cut makes it easier to morph into different looks for all those photo shoots and runway shows. Take, for example, Miranda Kerr, who sticks with what her stylist, L.A.-based David Keough of Celestine Agency, calls “your basic long layered haircut with smaller layers in front and nose-length bangs” that can easily be turned into an updo, braids, old-Hollywood hairstyle, etc. For Kerr’s going-out look, he’ll use John Frieda Root Booster on her roots before blowing it out, focusing the hottest heat at the roots to bake in that loose, easy body.

Photo: Wireimage

Go glam with old-Hollywood waves.

Fashion icon from the’90s Linda Evangelista once said, “I don’t get out of bed for less than $10,000,” referencing the going rate for her and her supermodel pals. While that’s a paycheck we can all lust after, fancy I’m-worth-it curls can be had for the price of a good curling iron. To create Miranda Kerr’s flawless curls, David Keough uses a 1-inch curling iron on the back and side sections of her head, holding the iron horizontally, then rolling hair under and around the iron. When he gets closer to the front of her head, he begins to mix up rolling directions—winding the iron up, down, back, forward—so the curls don’t look too fussy. The last two sections in front get the classic Farrah Fawcett treatment: Hold the iron vertically and roll away from your face. The final result? A ’40s-inspired look that still looks fresh.

Photo: FilmMagic

Give your hair a vacation.

During Fashion Week, models have their hair done eight or more times a day—which can lead to a lot of wear and tear. To restore the shine and bounce to overworked locks, try Miranda Kerr’s off-duty hairstyle tricks: Give the blow-dryer and hot tools a rest for a day or two and just spritz your hair with Victoria’s Secret Beauty Leave-In Conditioner. To detangle knots, Kerr says, “I use a Mason Pearson brush, always starting at the ends of my hair and working up. It’s instinctive to start at the roots when your hair’s tangled up, but you’ll just rip through your hair!”

Photo: Getty Images

To get a real-looking red hair color, stay away from the blues.

Think only natural-born redheads look natural with copper, strawberry shades? Think again. Coco Rocha’s base color is a light brown, but Louis Licari says the trick to copycatting her lustworthy red hair color is to stay in the golden-red zone. “The key to making red hair color look as natural as possible is the golden undertones,” he says. “Blue reds aren’t based in nature.” To keep this or any red looking fresh (reds tend to fade), condition often and keep color bright with a protein-restoring product like Ken Paves’ Boost Up Color Drops in between permanent touch-ups.

Photo: Getty Images

Chanel Iman’s Healthy, Shiny Hair

While this new supermodel has worn the most elaborate dresses and gravity-defying ‘dos on the runway, off the catwalk, Chanel Iman goes for “very natural, effortless, free-flowing hair,” says her stylist, Q. (Yep, just one initial! He’s that good.) “Her hairline is usually blown out straight with just a simple straight-iron press. No chemical treatments at all!” So what keeps her mane looking so healthy? “I use Mixed Chicks Hair Silk for gloss and shine,” he says. “And I trim her hair every four to six weeks to keep the ends healthy and thick.” Q also name-dropped Terax Hydrate Botanica Leave In Conditioner—which gets massaged into damp hair—as another fab Chanel-tested glossy hair find.

Photo: Getty Images

Chanel Iman’s Pre-Shampoo Secret

To get Chanel’s look, her stylist, Q suggests creating loose barrel waves by curling hair with a large curling iron. But before you fire up the hot hair tool, he suggests a pre-shampoo conditioning treatment using the Hair Rules product line. “They have some amazing moisturizing conditioners that you can use to pre-condition hair,” he says. “Apply to hair and leave for 20 to 30 minutes. You can multitask and do household chores or even Twitter while doing this! Then rinse with your favorite shampoo.” Another easy way to amp up the wow factor on your hair? Sleep on a satin pillowcase.

“Sometimes cotton can dry or snag hair,” says Q. “I’ve even handmade silk pillowcases for Chanel! Anyone can make them at home with two pieces of silk!” Don’t have your own crafty stylist on hand? Just v and snap some up for supermodel-inspired beauty sleep.

Photo: Getty Images

To turn heads, change your hair color.

Once known for her gorgeous red hair color, Coco Rocha made waves this season when she stepped out with a deep, dark new hue. “I wanted to maintain nuances of real color so that up close, it didn’t look monochromatic, flat—or fake, ” says her colorist, Louis Licari. To achieve the look, Licari used two different shades of a translucent single-process color, applying the lighter one to the front of the hair and the darker shade to the back to add warmth and subtle variation. To maintain her hair color, Rocha gets hers redone every four weeks or so, but you can make yours last even longer with Redken’s Color Extend Shampoo and Conditioner.

Photo: WireImage

Pump up the volume with some casual curls.

Say auf Wiedersehen to bad hair days. Though supermodel turned Project Runway host Heidi Klum looks fab in almost any kind of hairstyle, Heidi’s signature half-curly, half-wavy look is a favorite of her hairstylist, Helena Faccenda. Not only does it “really soften her features,” Faccenda says, but it’s also easy to do at home. To get the look, blow-dry hair without a brush. Just blow hot air in every direction, including upward. (This wild approach will give roots extra volume.) While hair is still slightly damp, she’ll add in a little curl-enhancing product like Morrocanoil Intense Curl Cream, finish drying the hair, then use a large-barrel curling iron to curl large sections of hair. Finally, Faccenda adds a glossing product, scrunches it in with her fingers and gently tousles hair into place.